1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to a plate release binding for Winter sports devices, in particular for snowboards, but suitable also for skis and related devices, equipped with a mobile plate having attachment means for a boot and a coupling mechanism connectable with an anchoring device, attachable on the snowboard, and detachable from it before injury-inducing forces are reached.
In spite of the fact that especially in the still fairly new sport of snowboarding many injuries resulting from crashes involving mainly feet and legs do occur, because the generally young riders' preference for daring manoeuvres and today's longer and faster boards, there is still no safety release binding for snowboards on the market which liberates the foot in case of excessive torsional and pivotal forces in all directions, and which also meets the safety codes of such authorities as the German TuV, the Swiss BFU or equivalent institutes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most present snowboards are equipped with so-called soft or buckle bindings, which require the use of mountaineering or after-ski boots. But the so-called plate bindings usable with ski or ski touring boots having standardized sole extensions are becoming increasingly popular. Both of these types of bindings are firmly attached to the snowboard and will not release the feet in case of a fall. Due to the fact that snowboards are generally thinner than skis, only relatively short screws of low extraction resistance can be used for mounting the binding. As a result of the practically rigid binding attachment and the foot position across the board, extremely high screw extraction forces occur even during normal use, resulting especially from the lateral pivoting movement of the foot. Thus, it happens quite often that the bindings are ripped off the board under normal use, or sole attachments may break. Such events are seriously feared by riders, because grave injuries may result from the typical forward twisting falls with only one single foot still attached cross-wise to the snowboard. The falling rider can hardly count upon the second binding to rip off too and thus reduce the risk of injury, because screw connections cannot withstand the high torsional forces that are likely to occur in such cases.
There are various reasons why there are no safety bindings with all-directional release and with the approval of the leading safety authorities on the market as yet. In any case, today's conventional ski bindings with separate front and heel piece cannot be used on snowboards, because they extend too far beyond the boot sole ends, so that they would drag in the snow, and because they do not feature any lateral pivoting release. The development of totally new binding systems, as would be required here, is technically a difficult task, and also very complicated and costly. In view of the still relatively small snowboard market, the leading ski binding manufacturers regard such a venture as too risky at the moment. On one hand, the binding should not negatively influence the elasticity and the flex curve of the snowboard and, on the other hand, the functioning of the binding should not suffer from the flexing action of the very elastic snowboards, as would be the case if conventional ski bindings were used.
The only snowboard plate release binding on the market at this time is the one under the brand name "Fuzzy". It was designed especially for the so-called Snow-Surfer, a device with two ski-type runners mounted underneath an articulated, elevated platform, on which the feet are placed when riding. However, this binding offers only lateral pivoting and lifting releases, and it lacks the most important Lorsional release. This is why it will not be approved by the TuV.
Inspite of their non-existing release features, most snowboard bindings are of quite complicated design, and their mounting requires in many cases the drilling of up to 40 holes in the snowboard. On account of the fact that these holes are located exactly in the area of highest stress forces, a substantial reduction of the boards' breaking strength is usually the case. Additional screw holes are required in the board if the foot angle has to be adjustable or if the binding has to be turned from the "regular" to the "goofy" foot position, and this further reduces the breaking strength.
Most snowboard bindings are very high, especially the buckle bindings, for which reason boards with such bindings use up so much room that they are difficult to store and to transport. It is also very costly for owners of several boards having to buy separate bindings for each one.